There are countries where tipping has gone mad. Tip everyone for anything. USA, we look at you:
Someone points you to a seat in a theatre? $5
Someone carries a bag? $5
Someone gives you directions? $5
Someone makes you a coffee? $3
Wait staff in a restaurant? 25% of the total bill upwards
Maid cleans your hotel room? $2 per night. Maid doesn’t clean your hotel room? $2 per night
Taxi driver? 20% or more
Pick up a cake at the local bakery? 25% upwards
Self-checkout at a supermarket? 10% upwards
We think it’s out of control and we know other people do too. Everywhere you go, the hand is out. It’s the culture. Don’t pay the hotel maid and you could be fined by the hotel ($250 seems to be the going rate) for “smoking in your room”, even if you have never smoked in your entire life.
There are countries where there is no tipping. If you try, it’s an insult. People expect to be helpful, they take pride in good service, it’s the job, they should not need to be bribed before they do their work. We love you, Japan.
For reasons not entirely clear to us, people seem fascinated by UK electrical plugs and sockets. Why are they so different, why are they over engineered? Why are they regarded as the safest in the world?
Let’s explain. Here is a picture of a typical UK plug:
Most items these days come with a moulded plug, for safety, and won’t have the screws.
As you can see, there are three (3) rectangular pins. Two are shorter, smaller and are ‘horizontal’ the other is bigger, longer and vertical. The top is the earth, the others live and neutral.
For some devices, an earth is not needed but the pin still has to be there. It may be plastic, but it still has a function.
Here is a typical UK electrical socket:
Actually, it’s a double socket. You can see holes that match all three pins, meaning there is only one way the plug can go in. You can’t get it wrong, not even upside down.
Here is the logic behind this design. It’s a very clever way of minimising the chances of a nasty shock.
As you put the plug in, the earth, being longer, goes in first. If you look hard at the smaller holes in the socket, you can see internal covers, a shutter. This protects small hands from sticking things in a getting a shock.
As the earth goes in, the shutter gets pushed down, opening the holes for live and neutral. That is why it is needed, even if it’s plastic.
The connections are deep inside the socket. The earth makes contact before the other two, a safety measure.
If you look at the plug, you will see two black bands. These are insulation. By the time the live and neutral make contact, any fingers holding the plug could only touch this, and that’s not likely anyway, so it’s another protection.
The three make a strong connection and the plug is not likely to fall out. It is pretty secure. Do not try to pull it out by the flex.
As you remove a plug, the shutter will close as the earth is the last to come right out.
Plugs are usually fused, up to 13 amps, depending on the device, to protect the flex.
Sockets usually have switches. In our picture, they are both on. This is to make it easy to completely isolate the device from the mains, without having to pull the plug out, saving wear and tear.
Mike Pinder, keyboard player and founder of The Moody Blues, has died. He was 82.
Mike was well known for playing the Mellotron, but he played all keyboards and guitar and was a main singer and songwriter for the band.
Mike claimed to have introduced The Beatles to the Mellotron, and they used it extensively. He had worked for a period at the factory that made the keyboard and understood more than most what it could be made to do. Their album Days Of Future Passed did use orchestra, but on most of the songs Pinder’s Mellotron was front and centre. It must have been the first rock album to feature the instrument so prominently.
There are many clips of Mike singing and playing, like this:
